Shoehorn



F. A. GESELL SHOE HORN Dec. 26, 1944.

Filed Sept. 29, 1943 INVENTOR. a fianii'fZGeseZl BY w g horn placed inthe shoe;

line s s of Fig. 5.

Patented Dec. 26, 1944 UNITED STAT ES PATE NT oFFlcE SHOEHORN Frank A.GBSBILCBCHCVHIQ, N. J. i Application September 29, 1943, Serial No.504,236

a 1 Claim. This invention relates to shoe horns and more particularly toan improved shoe horn which will more readily fit the contour ofapersons heel when used.

' At the present time shoe horns are normally 1 standard size and. areusually made from metal or plastic which is substantially rigid. One ofthe purposes of this invention is to provide a shoe horn which is veryflexible and which can adapt. itself to the contour of the human heel tomore readily allow insertion of the foot into the shoe.

tensile strength. Preferably the material should be between 10 and 20one thousandths of an inch thick. The shoe horn is double ended having awider end member I I and a narrower end member l2, the wider end memberbeing adapted for use by men while the narrower end member for women.The shoe horn is creased along the lines l4 and use that it willnaturally assumethe Present day shoe horns of necessity, because of themetal Or other material of. which they are made, have considerablethickness. This is a disadvantage due to the fact that shoes today, andparticularly womens shoes fit very snugly about the heel and the useof aheavy or thick shoe horn tends to distort the shoe.

An object of this invention therefore is to provide a shoe horn whichwill bevery thin, about /1000 of an inch thick which will allowinsertion of the foot into the shoe without distortion.

Another advantage of my shoe horn is that it is double ended providingone size for" the larger heels and a smaller size for smaller heels.

Other objects and advantages of my invention W111 appear from theaccompanying drawing and description.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a shoe horn embodying my invention; l

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof; Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view; Fig. 4is a cross sectional view the shoe; i

Fig. 5 is a sectional view in elevation of the shoe Fig. 6 is a crosssectional view taken on the.

My improved shoe horn I is preferably made arcuate shape of a personsheel as shown in Figure 3. While it will normally assume an arouateposition it is flexible enough to flattenout without damage. Toward thecenter portion of my shoe horn I provide lateralprojectionsl and I6.These projections limit the insertion of a the shoe horn into the shoeso that there is no danger of itbeing carried in under theheel whentheheel is slid into the shoe. ures 5 and6 the projections are of asufficient dis-. tance from the end in each case to allow the workingmember of the shoe horn to be inserted into the shoe but not to be drawnin by the. in- I sertion of the foot. The members II and I2 areoptionally usable in suchm'anner that one mem-.

taken on the line 4-4 of Fig; 5 showing the shoe horn inserted in l offlexible pliable plastic material having ahigh ber serves as the handlefor the other member while inserted in a shoe at theheel for putting theshoe on the foot of the user. l

It will be appreciated that the protruding stops l5 and I6, whilenotessential to my invention,

are highly advantageous in the sense that if they are not provided theshoe horn, due to its flexibility, might be carried in underthe heel asthe foot is inserted into the shoe and might require the removal of theshoe to free the horn.

I claim: An elongated flexible member having end portions formed for useas shoe horns and a median portion of increased lateral extent formingshoulders for limiting insertion of the respective end portions, whenused as shoe horns.

FRANK A. casein Asshown in Figl

